AcerIconiaTabA100
Latest
Acer releases app to hurry the ICS-ification of Iconia slates (video)
Patience, they say, is a virtue. Try telling that to a tech-savvy tablet owner, whose friend already got an ICS update. Acer started pushing out an Android 4 update to lucky Iconia 500 owners earlier in the week, but for those who've yet to receive it, all is not lost. The tablet maker has taken the unusual step of releasing an app dedicated to getting you the upgrade asap. Can't wait a moment longer? Point your slate at the Play store and search for "Acer" and then simply look for the free Iconia Tab Update Enhancement app. Virtues are overrated anyway.
Some Iconia Tab A500s getting Ice Cream Sandwich early, Acer Ring is MIA
Last week, Acer announced that Ice Cream Sandwich would make its way to Iconia Tabs A100 and A500 in Canada and the US starting April 27th, but Phone Arena reports that some owners of the 10.1-inch A500 are getting the option to update a day ahead of schedule. If you're one of the lucky few to be in on the early upgrade, you should be ready to rock with Android 4.0.3 after a 30-minute install. The one potential downside to getting ICS ahead of time? You'll have to wait for the Acer Ring hub, which didn't make the cut for this update.
Acer's A100 and A500 tablets getting Ice Cream Sandwich on April 27th
With April nearly over, it's high time Acer came clean on when exactly its promised Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for the A100 and A500 would land. Today the company did just that, revealing that US owners of either tablet can opt-in for their frozen makeovers starting on the 27th. Bad news if you're rocking AT&T's variant of the latter though, as the listing on the company's support page for the A501 says "no update planned." Those not tied Ma Bell can expect Acer's skin -- including that ring launcher -- grafted onto Google's latest, much like the A200's ICS upgrade back in February. Already pumped? Go ahead and bookmark that source link. Do it, we won't judge.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: tablets
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Of all the electronic gifts you could buy someone right now, a tablet seems like one of the safer bets. It's a cheaper way of saying "I love you" than bestowing a $1,000 laptop, and it takes less chutzpah than signing someone up for a smartphone (along with two years of data fees). And let's be real here: what's more festive than flopping onto the couch in pajamas after opening gifts and lazily playing Angry Birds while It's A Wonderful Life airs in the background? Yeah, we can't think of anything either.Sadly, we don't have any webOS-flavored tablets this time around, and we couldn't include some hotly anticipated numbers like the Transformer Prime, since they're not shipping yet and we don't even know much they'll cost. Still, we managed to find a slew of Android tablets (and one iPad) across a range of budgets. Been on the fence about what to get? Skip past the break for some ideas.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: tablets
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're leaning back with our tablets -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! There are certain back to school purchases we could never talk you out of. A laptop? Vital. A smartphone? Highly recommended. A printer? Necessary -- if you're the kind of person who finishes papers minutes with minutes to spare, leaving no time to swing by the computer lab on the way to class. But a tablet? We'll be honest: we can't think of a good reason why you need one, but we can more than sympathize if you're dead-set. We've picked a few noteworthy choices for each budget, though if you're really lucky you'll win one of 15 Samsung Galaxy Tabs and won't have to pay a dime. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for this year's tablet picks for back to school.
Acer Iconia Tab A100 review
It's been nine months -- nine months! -- since Acer first announced it was getting into the tablet game, with a promise of both 7- and 10-inch slates. Well, the 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 has been on the scene for months, but until now we've been tapping our feet impatiently waiting for the other tab to drop. Acer came out and said it wouldn't be here until the second half of the year, and meanwhile we'd heard rumors it would arrive in September and that it was delayed due to "Honeycomb compatibility issues". Well, folks, dog years later it's finally here. Say hello to the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the company's first 7-inch tablet, and the first 7-inch tablet to run Android 3.2. Other than its OS, its specs are fairly run-of-the-mill: a Tegra 2 SoC, five- and two-megapixel cameras, and micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports. And rejoice, geeks, because that's vanilla Honeycomb loaded on there -- you won't find any custom skins or proprietary widgets clogging your home screens. As much promise as these vitals might have for nerds, though, Acer is clear the tablet is for mainstream consumers ("moms," among others, according to the press release). We're not sure how your mother would feel about the precious pattern on the back, but chances are she'd appreciate the bargain factor: the 8GB version costs $329.99 while the 16GB number rings in at a reasonable $349.99, undercutting the 16GB HTC Flyer by $150. We've been lucky to get some quality time with the A100 the past few days, and let's just say we're coming away with some mixed feelings. But do we like it enough that we feel this little guy was worth the wait? That's a toughie, guys. %Gallery-130383%
Acer Iconia Tab A100 finally available in August for $300
It's been a long and twisted road for Acer's 7-inch Honeycomb tablet, but after all the starts and stops, we've finally got an ETA for the Iconia Tab A100. According to an email sent out to Acer retail partners today, the slab should land in stores sometime in early August with a suggested price tag of $300. The Tegra 2-powered device was originally slated for a mid-May launch, but was reportedly held up by Honeycomb compatibility issues. Also arriving early August, is a pair of new Aspire notebooks: the 15.6-inch 5750Z and the 17.3-inch 7739Z, ringing in at $475 a piece. Both laptops rock 4GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradable to 8GB), 500GB of storage, and Intel Pentium processors. Given the extra three months Acer's had to get the Iconia Tab A100 to market, that Honeycomb better taste extra sweet when it finally makes its debut. [Thanks, Anon]
Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated)
Typically, the whole fun of spotting products in the wild is that they haven't been officially announced to the world yet, but in the case of the Acer Iconia Tab A100, we're just amazed it's finally here, and that it's so... unassuming. Just weeks after rearing its head in FCC drawings, the delayed Tab has quietly surfaced at Walmart with a price tag of $349. That sticker there says it all, but for the money you'll get Tegra 2 innards with 8GB of internal storage, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5 megapixel one 'round the back. And of course, it runs Android 3.0 at a time when most other 7-inchers still tap out at Android 2.3 -- possibly the reason it was delayed in the first place. There's no listing on Walmart's website just yet, and our tipsters indicated it wasn't actually on display. Still, if we're seeing a price and tag, that means we're beyond the point of any more delays... right? Update: What you see in the wild is a display tag -- not the elusive A100, of course. You can't pop into a Walmart to buy one yet, but if that sticker is any indication, that'll change soon. Update 2: One sneaky reader snagged a sheet of wally-world pricetags, see the A100's barcode hanging with tags for the Iconia A500 and HP Touchpad after the break. [Thanks, Mat, David, Jared, and Clyde]
Acer Iconia Tab A100 delayed due to Honeycomb compatibility issues?
Acer was already kind enough to give us a heads up that it would not be launching the Iconia Tab A100 in May, as planned. But the company wasn't exactly champing at the bit to explain why its 7-inch, Tegra 2-powered tablet is taking such a tedious trip to market. According to a DigiTimes report, at least, the hangup comes down to compatibility issues with Honeycomb, an OS that so far hasn't been seen on many 7-inch slates. Specifically, the site's unnamed sources say Acer has encountered problems with certain applications and that Google, meanwhile, is "busy resolving other issues." All in all, precisely the kind of complication that Ice Cream Sandwich promises to circumvent. Oh, and speaking of delays, DigiTimes adds that the Iconia Smart might go on sale in July due to earthquake-related supply shortages. We asked Acer for clarification, but the company declined to comment, so it looks like we'll just have to wait and see what goodies late summer brings.
